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Daily Devotion: Isaiah 40:9-11 (2)

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Isaiah 40:9-11     "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!  (10)  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.  (11)  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."

We used these verses recently, but there is something about them that warrants our further attention.

"Behold your God!"  How does that statement hit us this morning? Do we ever take time to just simply behold our God? What does it mean to behold? Years ago, I was a meter reader. I often would turn into a driveway and see a sign that said, "Beware of dog!"  Sometimes the sign would be there, but no dog would be around. But I always took the sign seriously and if I saw a dog, I kept my distance until I found out if the dog was friendly or not. The word, beware, tells me to stand at a distance to investigate. But the word, behold, carries the meaning of getting just as close as you can in order to find out more about the object that is to be beheld.  "Behold your God!" That tells me that God has an open door policy that allows me to get just as close to Him as I possibly can. I want to find out as much about Him as my heart and mind can receive.  In these three verses, I find information that is most helpful to my everyday living. First, I see that my God is strong! He is all powerful in His work of this universe and in His work of salvation in our lives. The theological term for that is omnipotent. I prefer the language of Jeremiah when he said, "... there is nothing too hard..." for God. (Jeremiah 32:17)   Yes, He is all powerful, but the second thing I see about God is that He has the ability to temper that power into gentleness when it's needed in my life.  He gathers the lambs and for those who are weak, He carries us. He has provided "green pastures and still waters."  He is everything I need for whatever the circumstance I find myself in.  I invite each of us to "behold our God" today and seek to learn more about Him.

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